The Mindful Approach To recovery

Hello All!

Here is something that some may find useful, and others may find confusing or worthless. But nonetheless, if it can help anybody it is worth sharing:

What happens when we feel an urge? a craving? In our addictive ways we have programmed our brain to immediately act on this urge. We feel craving, we PMO. There are often no steps in between. This is where we need to break the cycle.

Here is where I am going to throw in an idea that may be foreign or uncomfortable for some: we are not these emotions, sensations, or thoughts. We ( as as the active observer behind our emotions and thoughts) are able to view these thoughts and emotions as objects distinctly separate for who we are. They as merely "objects of consciousness" or clouds in the sky. They come and go. They pop into my consciousness and as soon as they arrive, they are replaced by other thoughts and emotions. We all experience this, but may not be aware of this! Our awareness gives us the choice to act on emotions, instead of letting them control us. This ultimately means that we have power over our emotions. We may not be able to stop them, but we can become aware of them, and choose how to act.

Heres a common scenario that we all share: we are going about our day, then BAM: craving hits. Now instead of impulsively acting here we need to be mindful. We now recognize that we are experiencing some uncomfortable emotions and sensations, and feel the need to act on them. But, now as the observers of our emotions, we can watch the cravings arise and watch them pass by. We have gained power over our craving. Instead of being swept away and immediately acting, we became aware. We watched the craving rise up, and eventually get swept away by other distractions and emotions. We have now taken the craving which we used to be a slave to, and turned it into a cloud passing overhead. It comes and goes. And we can sit in the grass underneath and watch them come and go, no longer a slave. No longer needing to act every time we feel an impulse.

I am not undermining the power of addiction, and how difficult this can be. I am simply proposing a new way to look at cravings, and how to deal with them in a different way. This is a very brief, and perhaps poorly worded explanation of what mindfulness is. But I just hope to introduce a new way of thinking!

 

Thank you Mr. Right Mind! I really appreciate your feedback, and am happy I could give you another tool in your toolkit!